So how do your like your house these days? Is it comfy? Is it in a good neighborhood? Is it close to schools? Does it have nice curb appeal? Is the plumbing in good shape? Is the wiring okay? Is there room for a growing family? Does it have a nice backyard? Are you happy there? Well, in case you are not happy there, or thinking about upgrading or downsizing, or selling it to help finance your retirement, you have until New Years Eve to get it listed sold and to close on it. If you don’t, Obamacare will get you in the end like an intramuscular injection, provided the IPAB lets you have one.
We all remember that great line delivered by then Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi who remarked… okay, all together: “We have to pass the bill so we can find out what’s in it!” (I promise that is the only time I ever will use that quote.) As more of that information becomes common knowledge, following the news is getting to be like waiting for the results of a biopsy that you already know are going to be bad.
When the ACA first reared its hideous, hydra heads, a friend of mine who was in Washington, D.C. had the misfortune to attend a Pelosi speech. During the speech she told the crowd that Congress needed to pass Cap-and-Trade so the money could be used to fund healthcare. Well Cap-and-Trade did not pass. Granted it has popped up in much smaller versions like so many plague-ridden prairie dogs, but the effort itself did not pass.
A Leviathan as massive as Obamacare needs to feast on vast amounts of your money, which means no dollar is safe, and there is no place the administration will not reach to find the cash it needs to continue to keep the beast fattened up.
One of the latest results of the ACA biopsy is the news that your home, should you decided to sell it after the New Year could well be taxed to finance Obamacare. When the last stroke of midnight dies away on January 1st of 2013, a 3.8% tax on unearned income goes into effect courtesy of the Nancy Pelosi and the ACA. And that tax could be applied to the sale of family homes, townhouses, condos, co-ops and even rental properties.
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And…there goes your equity.
Now the administration is going to tell you to breathe easy, it is only those nasty one percenters (Of which La Pelosi one) that will have to cough that tax up. You folks in the middle class it won’t be affected at all.
Well, as Quickdraw McGraw used to say “Hold on there, Babalouie.” To steal a phrase from Bill Clinton that depends on what your definition of “rich” is. You see over the years, Congress has been neglecting to index the high income threshold for inflation, meaning that you, Mr. and Mrs. Middle Class may find yourself getting socked with this tax.
So if you were planning to build equity in your home to finance your retirement, were planning to sell your home in order to upgrade or downsize; or if you own some rental properties to bolster your income, you might want to put pen to paper and figure out how much 3.8% is going to run you, and if you can afford it or not. I have a feeling that in this case Messrs. Dodd and Frank will not be riding to your rescue.
Keep in mind, the Federal Government must raise $210 billion to finance this colossus. And real estate is just one of the veins the president will tap. Even if you do make it through 2013 without having to absorb the unearned income tax, chances are good your reprieve will not last long. The National Association of Realtors calls this unprecedented tax hike a potential job killer. It is starting to look like jobs will only be the first things to be sacrificed on the altar of Progressive Big Government.
Summer is the time to plant trees, flowers and grass seed. And while you are at it, you might want to head up on your roof and see if the government has painted a bull’s-eye on it.
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